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Sweat Pink Ambassador

I thought I would pop in to provide some quick updates to the ole’ neglected blog.

On the baby:

About a month ago we found out that we are having a baby boy! We are just so excited that everything is checking out great and we keep get great reports at all of my doctors visits. I’m currently 24 weeks and this little guy will be here before we know it!

On the nursery:

We have our crib in and luckily we really like it! I read a bunch of reviews on amazon and just randomly picked one. It wasn’t expensive, it’s sturdy, has great reviews and seems like it will be a solid crib. It also converts into a toddler bed. But, I’ll worry about that need in a couple years.

it’s a crib!

I’ve also ordered a dresser that will double as our changing table and we have selected a glider that will likely be ordered soon. I’ve made a registry, scheduled some baby prep classes in March, and found a pediatrician. I feel pretty on top of it! Woop. Thank you to the sweet friends who have already started to gift us baby items. You rock and our baby will love you. I just know it.

On exercise:

Well…this category isn’t going so perfectly. Up until the holiday break, I was holding strong with swimming on Saturdays, yoga on Sundays, and walking. Unfortunately, I got pretty sick after Christmas and had to put things on hold. I’m feeling better now and am looking forward to “working out.” I use quotations because I miss the feeling of working out really hard. I miss running. I get jealous when I see people out running. But I just have to wait for now. I know I’ll be back to it.

FYI-It’s a great time to start training for spring races. The bridge run is about 12 weeks out and the Palmetto 200 will be here before you know it as well. I look forward to hearing how friends do in both of these races! (And good luck to everyone running the Chs Half or Full marathon too!) I’ll be with ya next year! ;)

On house:

This project took a back burner over the holidays, but we did make some progress the weeks before. David did a great job on the back-splash. We had a little kitchen-viewing-holiday-dropin-baby-boy-party before Christmas and it was so nice to finally have a few friends and neighbors over to check out all the progress. Here is a little snapshot looking into the kitchen from the dining room. (It’s still dark, because we still haven’t hung lights. Oops.)

I apologize for the hiatus in the blog world. Between finishing up the kitchen project, keeping focused at work, dealing with some family events and some other items, it just wasn’t a priority. I appreciate your understanding!

However, it seems now, things are finally settling down and I’m putting blogging (at least semi- regularly) back on the table.

In order to keep this post not the length of a novel, here are some updates on various events from the last few months:

Kitchen Renovation:Not 100% done, but 100% livable. About mid-September David installed the oven and cooktop, we finished installing cabinet drawers, had the house cleaned, and put out furniture (and lots of other things!). If you were to come over right now, I really think all you would notice left to do: trim, backsplash, hang lights. We really love how everything turned out! I will try to remember to take a few pictures and add them here soon. It was a long process, took us 7 months to get to where we are now… and I will not do a renovation again, while living in the space. I’m amazed at how much David is capable of and without him, this project would have never happened. If you see him around town, give him a pat on the back, buy him a beer and tell him “good job!” He’s the best.

Family Category:Shortly after our mini vacation in Michigan, my grandmother in Atlanta had some medical issues and passed away. We were very close and this loss was very difficult. However, I have taken a tremendous amount of comfort knowing that she lived a great, long life and she still exists in all of our hearts. There isn’t a day that doesn’t go by that she doesn’t cross my mind. She really is all around and that is nice to know. Love you Gramma Dot!

Exercise & Running & Stuff:Oh my, did this take a hit this fall! I had some awesome workouts in Michigan. I ran everyday with the intention of continuing increased intensity when I returned. …. Except that didn’t happen at all.

Instead, when I came back from Michigan… We discovered we are pregnant!

(Borrowing this photo from Etsy as we haven’t taken a single photo yet.)

Yayyy! Confetti all around! We are very excited ! Baby Betenbaugh is due May 1, 2015. I’m about 17.5 weeks along. The time is flying by. I’m not going to post detailed personal info about weight, gross baby stuff, ultra sound photos, a bare baby bump photo (I mean really, who wants to see that?), but I’ll keep things generic and specifically how they relate to staying healthy for the purpose of this blog.

So back on the exercise topic- I always considered myself one who would run throughout her entire pregnancy. And once I found out, I did keep running. I started running with a new training buddy about mid summer- Abby from Back At Square Zero. There is nothing more wonderful than discovering new training friends and we started meeting up every Sunday to run. I really look forward to it every week!

For the most part, I have felt pretty good so far. I feel lucky. There were about two weeks from about 6 – 8.5 weeks pregnant that felt rough and I backed off running. Then, I somehow strained or hyper-extended my right knee (self diagnosed). But, I pushed thru it and kept trying to run. It became increasingly difficult so mid-ish October, I decided that pure rest was the best solution. And it was. The knee no longer feels painful.

Fast forward to my Doctors appointment last week. I decided that it would be smart to ask her if I could start back running after taking about 3.5 weeks off. She advised me that it would be best to switch to just walking now for the remainder of the pregnancy. I’m sure there may be some other Doctor who would advise me otherwise, but I like my Doctor and trust her. So instead of running for the next 5 months, I have taken up walking (Abby said she would still be my buddy! Yay!), swimming and prenatal yoga. I have enjoyed getting back in the pool and back on the yoga mat.

For those swimmers out there: here is a little snapshot of my swim workout from last week:

The blogger side of my brain is telling me “bad bad bad” and “shame on you”…while the other half is telling me that “its all good.” (Anyone else experience blogging guilt?)

A quick update on life for you (and to also satisfy the marketing gal inside):

The kitchen project is taking longer than expected. After an incident with the granite (long story, won’t share here) we are finally back on track. We have installed all cabinet doors, put on handles, installed new dishwasher, refrigerator, under cabinet lighting, installed microwave in the pantry, dimmer on the dining room light, and primed the walls for paint. I don’t have any updated pictures of all this… We got new phones a few weeks ago, and well that’s my excuse. ;)

Installing the new fridge with my tshirt on inside-out. I’ve been told this happens a lot.

We are feeling really ready to be done with this project. I’m ready to clean the house and get furniture out/unpack the mess that has been hiding away in our guest room since May. Talk about rough. We should be able to better organize our house once the paint is up. I think that will provide a big sense of relief. Finishing touches (trim, backsplash,etc) can be done with furniture out.

On a happier note- we just got back from a beautiful trip to Michigan! My grandmother lives in Frankfort which is a little harbor town on Lake Michigan. Weather was nice and cool. We had bonfires, hung out at the local brewery (Storm Cloud) everyday, had a celebrity sighting (Meryl Davis), did some shopping, canoeing, and went for 3 very hilly runs for a total of 10 miles. Considering we were only there for 3 days I consider it a wonderful trip.

I’m also happy to report that our workouts are getting back on track! I’ve been running about 3-4 days a week again and I am also training a friend for the swimming leg of a triathlon! We are having a lot of fun (well… I think she would say that!) and it feels WONDERFUL to be back in the water again.

Hope everyone has been having a great Summer. I promise we will resurface …eventually.

Sorry for the long delay but a lot has been happening around our house!

I left you off with Post 3, where the beam was installed and I think we had the template for installing the cabinets.

My oh my- are you in for a surprise! Let’s just jump right in with the photos and progress.

David installing the upper cabinets. Have to make sure they are level!

Now the cabinets are all installed. We are ready for the granite! (The hanging solo cups are temporary holders for lights….not permanent..)

Andrew sanding down the bar platform, getting it ready for the brackets to support the granite. (Again, don’t you just love red solo cups for lighting? ;) )

While Andrew was sanding, Amanda & Adrienne were doing yoga/installing rails for the drawers along the island.

The granite in the driveway!

Granite installed by the sink. (Sorry for the finger in the corner, I’m a horrible photographer)

Granite everywhere! (Those cups will come down, I promise.)

David building doors for the cabinets! (The easiest part of the Ikea cabinet process if you ask me.)

Drawers are in on the island! Don’t they look awesome? The empty space in the center will hold the cook top and oven! The support columns will be getting fixed up next. Thinking wrapped in Cypress & wire brushed? Thoughts?

Close up of the cabinets/granite. What do you think for back splash? White subway tiles? The counter looks greenish in these photos, but I promise you its more gray/white than that!

These will be the handles for the cabinets. Install coming this week or so.

When we got back from Pawleys Island after a lovely 4th of July holiday, David installed our brand new Kohler faucet! We have running water folks- this is huge. Went 7 weeks without a kitchen sink. Cabinet doors are also featured in this dark picture.

So, pretty awesome right? I hope to take good pictures one of these days. I think part of the problem is that we don’t have our lights installed yet and most of the work takes places at night.

Next up on the to-do list: ( I think)

1. Install appliances

2. Install handles

3. Hang lights

Our contractors have been busy the last week patching up drywall and wrapping the support beam in dry wall. We have decided just to paint that beam white to help it disappear into our ceiling. Next they will be patching the floor in between the kitchen and the front living/dining room and working on the columns and making them look amazing.

We still have a long way to go, but we are about a week away from having a functional kitchen.

It’s really starting to take shape and I am really loving everything we have picked out. I also cannot wait to deep clean everything in my house and decorate.